Nurse practitioners and PAs are among the 5 medical organizations that released the COVID-19 Vaccination and Therapeutics in PALTC Toolkit, a resource for clinicians in post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) settings. The toolkit provides guidance on the COVID-19 bivalent booster and oral antiviral therapeutics, a pharmacist ordering flowchart for nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid), guidance on use of monoclonal antibodies to treat Omicron subvariants, and fact sheets for patients, among other topics.
The development of the toolkit was prompted by a meeting with the White House COVID-19 Response Team on October 17, 2022, which gathered leaders from national medical organizations to discuss the ongoing COVID-19 Public Health Emergency—particularly how to protect people against the disease and treat them moving forward. The toolkit was developed by AMDA in collaboration with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA), American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP), and Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA).
“This fall [and winter] we are facing the possibility of a so-called ‘tripledemic’ featuring COVID-19, RSV, and the flu,” said Christopher Laxton, executive director of The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA). “At the same time, we see new COVID variants increasing in prevalence and able to evade some of our key therapeutics. That means it’s more important than ever to make sure everyone is protected.”
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The toolkit also provides resources on the recently approved Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine (Novavax, Inc) and discusses considerations for nursing home residents when COVID-19 and influenza are circulating simultaneously. Information on concomitant medications that are contraindicated during nirmatrelvir/ritonavir treatment is included.
Sources
1. New COVID toolkit and webinar will help keep everyone safe this winter. News release. The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. November 14, 2022. https://paltc.org/?q=newsroom/new-covid-toolkit-and-webinar-will-help-keep-everyone-safe-winter
2. COVID-19 toolkit released for clinicians in post-acute, long-term care. News release. American Hospital Association. November 17, 2022. https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2022-11-17-covid-19-toolkit-released-clinicians-post-acute-long-term-care
This article originally appeared on Clinical Advisor
